


Nothin more than some DC shorts

by PutTheKnifeDownElmo



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Some angst, There’ll be some fluff, update relationships along the way, your regular dc one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:47:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29666811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PutTheKnifeDownElmo/pseuds/PutTheKnifeDownElmo
Summary: A collection of Yoohyeon/Dreamcatcher one shots and shorts. A mix of both AU and Cannon based fics!
Relationships: Kim Bora | SuA/Kim Yoohyeon, Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon, Kim Yoohyeon/Lee Gahyeon, Kim Yoohyeon/Lee Yubin | Dami
Comments: 34
Kudos: 140





	1. Home away from Home -2yoo

**Author's Note:**

> Always happy to get prompts and ideas for future one shots either here or @KnifeDownElmo on twt! All just for fun and games really. 
> 
> As always, comments welcome :)

University had been a whirlwind for her group of friends, full of late night study sessions, parties, night time drives, the whole lot. But they had survived by supporting one another, leaving them to pursue their own desires once they had graduated. 

Most stayed close to home, Bora and Siyeon pooled together to start the business they had always dreamed of, Yubin got to work with animals at the local zoo, Minji owned a popular cafe that was booming thanks to her business degree, and no one was sure what Gahyeon actually did. But she seemed to be having fun.

Handong had chosen to travel for the first month or so, but had come back to work as a florist down the street from Minji. The only one who had truly left was Yoohyeon. She hadn’t planned to, but a job offer came up in a city hours away that she couldn’t turn down, so that was that. It hit Yubin the hardest, all throughout university they had been inseparable. Constantly dancing on the line of will they won’t they, but Yoohyeon moving away seemed to be the nail in the coffin.

They all kept in contact sure, with promises of coming to visit when they had time, but it wasn’t the same. Not to mention the fact that Yoohyeon moved six months ago and none of them had found the time to go visit, all caught up in their various lives.

That was until one late saturday night, while Yubin and Siyeon were playing games together, she received a text from Yoohyeon. As soon as she read it she quit her game and started packing a bag, much to Siyeon’s confusion. That was until she picked up Yubin’s discarded phone and looked at the message which read along the lines of “Feeling homesick, miss you guys.”

Siyeon could only laugh, “Still head over heels I see?”

“Don’t start, it’s not even like that. Besides, she said you guys. Not me” Yubin replied from the bedroom, still packing some essentials.

“Oh yeah? Why didn’t she send it to the group chat then?”

Admittedly, Yubin didn’t have a response for that.

But that’s how she found herself standing before a door that she didn’t recognise on a Sunday afternoon, her hand raised to knock but she was hesitating slightly. Maybe this was a mistake, she hadn’t even told Yoohyeon that she was coming, before she could overthink any further, the door opened.

A moment of silence occurred while they made shocked eye contact, too speechless to say anything. Until that was, a very loud and disbelieving “Yubin!” rang out in the hall.

“...Hi?” Yubin dumbly responded, but couldn’t say anymore as she was wrapped into a tight hug. It wasn’t until then Yubin truly understood how much she missed the taller girl, her own hands tightened as she was unwilling to let go. Everything about Yoohyeon’s presence brought comfort, a comfort that she wasn’t sure how she survived six months without.

Eventually, they had to release each other from their embrace as they had received one to many weird looks from people passing in the corridor.

“Oh! I’m sorry, you should come in” Yoohyeon said with a blinding smile, still not believing that her best friend was in front of her.

“Weren’t you about to go out?”

“Only for food, but something tells me takeout would be better”

It may have been a few months, but it wasn’t that easy to forget Yoohyeon’s disastrous cooking attempts in university. If it wasn’t for Bora, they were all sure she would have starved or had numerous deficiencies. With that in mind, Yubin couldn’t disagree. 

Yubin made her way into Yoohyeon’s one bedroom apartment, it was neater than she was expecting but it wasn’t homely yet. It was much too bare, the shelves still empty other than the odd book here and there. One of which caught her attention in particular, she picked it up with a smile.

Usually the two had very different tastes when it came to books, Yoohyeon preferred stories of wonder and magic while Yubin always leaned towards realism. Yet this one book in particular had united them both. It was a story about soulmates.

Yoohyeon loved the romanticism of it all, the idea of two people being bound by fate until the very end. But Yubin found it to be a reality, for she had found her soulmate within Yoohyeon. The two had spent hours cooped up in the corner of their university library discussing their theories on it to no end.

“I thought you got rid of this in your clear out?” Yubin asked while holding the book up so Yoohyeon could see it. It was true that the taller girl had gotten rid of a good portion of her extensive book collection before moving, but she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of that one.

“No, that one is different”

“How so?”

“That’s our book, don’t you think?”

Yubin didn’t know what to say, of course she thought the same but the idea of vocalising it made her blood pressure sky rocket. One thing she had always admired about the taller girl was her capability to wear her heart on her sleeve no matter what happened. When it came to Yoohyeon, you could always guarantee that you would get the truth, no hidden motive, no second guessing.

Now Yubin had been Yoohyeon’s shoulder to cry on one too many times for the former to have liked, wearing your heart on your sleeve comes with risk and consequences. Many had taken advantage of this fact, but Yoohyeon never changed her ways. Always picking herself back up, knowing Yubin would be there to hold her up if she so needed it.

The next hour they slipped into an easy conversation, enjoying each other’s company. At first Yubin was concerned that things wouldn’t be the same, or that it would be awkward. But that was far from the case as it felt like they were eighteen again with their whole lives ahead of them, not twenty two and settled down with jobs.

Soon enough the topic of conversation moved towards coworkers, Yubin couldn’t deny she was curious about who Yoohyeon was spending most of her time with these days.

“So have you replaced us yet?”

“You? Never. Bora? Absolutely.”

Yubin’s cheeks flushed at the compliment but before she could comment, Yoohyeon was already asking a question of her own.

“What about you guys? When I come back will there be a new lanky, clumsy friend that you found to replace me?”

“There’s a new giraffe at the Zoo that’s particularly unstable, so we thought that would be an adequate replacement. Wait did you say when you come back?”

There was a pause of silence as Yoohyeon was considering what to say, truthfully the matter had been weighing on her mind recently and it had festered as she hadn’t been able to rant to anyone. It wasn’t the same over text or on facetime, so having Yubin here in front of her the words seemed so much easier to say.

“It’s not the same, it’s not what I was expecting”

“In what way?” It was clear Yoohyeon had Yubin’s full attention, she was almost taken off guard by the earnest look in the latters eyes. 

“I thought I’d be happy here, it’s everything I wanted and yet I can’t help but wish I still had you here with me”

“You’ve always got me Yooh, you could move halfway across the world and nothing would change that”

“Yubin-”

But before Yoohyeon could say what was on her mind, the doorbell rang cutting her. It was the takeout they had ordered earlier, neither one of them had realised how much time had passed since the younger first arrived. 

Soon the conversation was quickly forgotten, the lure of food was far too overpowering for them to even remember. The two were sat on the sofa while they ate their food and a movie played, filling the comfortable silence. But with her stomach now full, snuggled under a blanket and her head on Yubin’s shoulder, she didn’t stand a chance to keep her eyes open.

Yubin took this opportunity to take in the sight of Yoohyeon, she wanted this moment to last forever. She remembered when Yoohyeon first told her that she was moving away, and it broke her heart. It didn’t matter that she was only hours away, in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t even that far but when you rely on someone so much the change was devastating. 

But she couldn’t be selfish, that’s not who she was. So she put on a brave face and congratulated her, trying not to think about Yoohyeon’s offer to stay if that’s what Yubin wanted. Yet in this moment, with Yoohyeon on her shoulder, she couldn’t regret it. It was the right thing for her to do. 

Much to her dismay, her body began to cramp at the awkward angle. Trying to shift without waking up Yoohyeon failed miserably as she heard a whine sound out, grumbling as she came to. 

“Time for bed?” 

Yoohyeon nodded while standing up, but much to Yubin’s surprise Yoohyeon stretched out her arms as if to help her stand up too.

“Aren’t I sleeping here?”

“The sofa is too uncomfortable to sleep on, you’re better off with me”

Yubin’s back might be better off on a mattress but she wasn’t sure her heart could take it. Sensing her dilemma, she quickly back tracked.

“I mean it’s up to you, of course you don’t have-”

Yubin cut her off before Yoohyeon could ramble anymore, “It’s a good idea, thank you for the offer” she replied while taking the taller girl's dangling hand, sharing a small smile. Just like that the two were getting ready for bed, brushing their teeth side by side.

“Do you have a preference?” Yoohyeon asked while gesturing to the bed.

“You like to be closer to the door, right?”

Yoohyeon’s jaw dropped slightly, shocked that Yubin remembered such a small detail. She supposed she should be used to it, as Yubin was never the one for grand gestures but showed her affection in moments like this. 

“I’ll make breakfast tomorrow if you can tell me why” It was a rare opportunity to test their connection, of course Yoohyeon was going to take it. Besides, even if she wasn’t the best cook, she could make a mean breakfast.

“You said if there’s a fire you want to be the first one out the door” Yubin replied with a smug grin on her face

“...looks like breakfast is on me”

Despite Yoohyeon’s bed being a double, half an hour later Yubin found herself tucked under the taller girl’s chin. The two fitting together like puzzle pieces, she couldn’t help but think of the soulmate book from earlier. It certainly didn’t help with her pounding heart, she could only hope that Yoohyeon couldn’t hear it. 

Speaking of Yoohyeon, her breath was deep and steady but Yubin could tell she wasn’t asleep yet. Confirming her suspicions, the silence was soon broken by the sound of Yoohyeon whispering.

“Yubin? Are you still awake?”

She hummed in response, not quite trusting her voice just yet.

“Thank you for coming” Yoohyeon said quietly, but the sheer emotion in her voice made Yubin shuffle back in an attempt to look the older girl in the eyes. But Yoohyeon’s eyes were downcast, trying to mask the vulnerability Yubin would surely see in them.

Bringing her hand up from the depths of the duvet, she gently tilted Yoohyeon’s chin up until she could look into her glassy eyes. It was clear Yoohyeon had a lot more up in her head than she let on earlier, Yubin could only wonder what brought about these kinds of feelings. The sight made a surge of protectiveness swirl in her chest.

“I’ll stay if you want me to” Admittedly she hadn’t thought about the logistics of moving, what would happen with her family or her job seemed unimportant while gazing into Yoohyeon’s teary eyes. She would do anything to change that, so she didn’t regret her words.

“How could I take you away from your home?”

“If one thing you moving has made me realise, it’s that you’re my home”

Yoohyeon was silent for a moment, her eyes narrowed slightly as she was thinking Yubin’s words through. But sure enough, everything seemed to click into place.

“How about I come home to you?”

Yubin couldn’t hide her smile at those words, the thought of having Yoohyeon back with everyone else made her heart surge with glee. But the conversation wasn’t finished, suddenly those precious words that she had been biting back for years weighed more heavily upon her then she could ever imagine. Perhaps it was the tone of the conversation, or the soft look replacing the sad one in Yoohyeon’s eyes, but she wanted to get the full truth out on the table.

“If I tell you something, do you promise not to run?” Yubin asked quietly, her usually calm voice was trembling slightly with nerves. Instead of responding, Yoohyeon intertwined their little fingers in a pinky promise. That was enough for Yubin to carry on.

“I think you’re my soulmate”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Yoohyeon’s eyes disappeared in a blinding smile.

“That’s good, because I know you’re mine”

It wasn’t perfect, they still had a lot to talk about, but for now it was enough as they held each other in that quiet night. Happier than they thought possible.

The next morning, while Yoohyeon was making the promised breakfast, Yubin couldn’t help but giggle at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“What’s so funny?”

“I just can’t believe after all these years, all it took was a bad sofa for me to confess”

Yoohyeon threw her oven gloves on the side and walked over to the sofa in question, before reaching under and pulling it out to create a very comfortable looking sofa-bed.

“You think?!”


	2. Limits - Jiyoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time Yoohyeon feels heard, and she can thank Minji for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for sensory overloads, so read with caution! 
> 
> Note: Sensory overloads can be associated with specific conditions, but anyone can experience it. I haven’t gone into detail because I don’t know enough about specific conditions and didn’t want to misrepresent anything. Hence slight vagueness.

Frustration bubbled up within Yoohyeon as she put her head not so gently on the desk, both at the world, her members but mostly with herself. With that frustration, came an unbearable sense of guilt.

The whole day was a blur, looking back she didn’t know how it had gotten so bad. It was one of those days where the soft puppy demeanour that she was known for was gone, and it was replaced with irritability. Usually Yoohyeon was pretty good at recognising her moods, taking herself out of situations before she inevitably took her emotions out on someone, but today everything had just gone wrong.

If she was asked to explain it, she wouldn’t even know where to begin. Her own thoughts and emotions were just so jumbled and clouded within her own head, and she hated the feeling of not being in control of her own emotions. 

Nothing about what she was feeling was rational, she knew that. But knowing that doesn’t make what she’s feeling any less real. These bouts of negative emotions had gotten her in trouble as a child. After all, it was difficult to explain as a kid that the sounds of her brother chewing that slight bit too loud was putting her on edge. Or the constant ticking of the clock made her heart pound to the point where her young brain was convinced she was going to die. 

Countless times she had been told that she was just being dramatic, this negative response every time she had tried to explain herself meant that at some point she had just given up. To the point that Yoohyeon wasn’t even sure if her members knew, despite knowing them for years and trusting them with her life.

Growing up she had tried to google what was happening to her, in the hopes that someone somewhere felt the same. That it wasn’t just her being dramatic. She knew it was a form of sensory overload but past this she was clueless. Even after all these years Yoohyeon still didn't know why it happened or how to predict when it was going to happen, but she had found ways to cope.

It was no secret that Yoohyeon could be a restless person, constantly wringing her hands or tapping her feet. Sometimes her members gently scolded her when it got too persistent or was too noticeable on camera, but for the most part they let her do her thing. For some reason this physical contact helped ground her and get her mind off whatever negative emotion was prevailing in that moment.

But it wasn’t enough today.

No matter how hard Yoohyeon tried, she couldn’t even remember what she actually said to Bora. The whole argument that started out as their typical teasing had just so quickly spiralled out of control. But she could remember the looks her members gave her as soon as the words left her mouth, and the look of hurt on Bora’s face.

Immediately she had left the room, leaving her shocked members behind her, not wanting to say anything more. That’s how she found herself head down on the desk in one of the vocal rooms, unable to calm herself down. Everything that she was feeling was just all too much, and each little sound that she could hear just added to it.

It even got to the point where the sound of her own breathing just added to her panic, making her hyperventilate and panic even more. Never before had this happened, and she despised not feeling in control of her own body. It was bad enough that she wasn’t in control of her own emotions.

In a desperate attempt to gain control she moved to sit on the floor, and tried to block out all of the stimulus around her. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut and she brought her hands up to press on her ears. Yoohyeon could still hear her own breathing and feel her blood pumping far too quickly, but it did manage to block out the noisy road outside and people walking about just outside.

With her hands occupied, her leg began to tap aggressively on the cold floor below her. All of this meant that she didn’t notice the door to the room open, or Minji walk in and sit beside her. Too absorbed in trying to collect herself to take in any more information.

Minji would have been there sooner if she wasn’t held up by trying to calm down Bora, the dancer had immediately wanted to follow Yoohyeon to confront her and talk it out but she knew that wouldn’t be the best course of action right now. As a team, they had been through a lot together. Arguments and disputes were natural, they were human after all. 

But this felt different to Minji, she knew her members and something wasn’t adding up. Sure, the duo were known for bickering. Both of them enjoyed teasing each other and play fighting, naturally sometimes that went too far but they always made up with no hard feelings. That’s just how they worked. Yet this came out of nowhere, and escalated far too quickly for something not to be up.

Clearly Bora thought the same for she was hurt, but she wasn’t angry at Yoohyeon. And everyone knew she was quick to anger. The dancer just wanted to get to the bottom of things as soon as possible, yet Minji had a feeling that would make things worse rather than better. So she left Bora in Siyeon’s capable and calming hands to find the younger girl.

When Minji opened the door, she was not expecting to find Yoohyeon curled up looking like a scared child desperately trying to block out the world. Her breathing was still concerningly ragged. If the mere sight of the girl was unpleasant for Minji, she could only imagine what the younger girl must be feeling. 

One thing she prided herself on was being able to comfort her members, each needing their own ways of reassurance. But in all of their years together she had never encountered a situation like this and so she didn’t know what was right and what was wrong. This left her with her intuition and that told her that Yoohyeon didn’t need a conversation right now, but perhaps some silent support might help.

With that in mind she sat down next to Yoohyeon making sure that there was still some space between them, but close enough that she could still reach out if she needed to. But she wasn’t sure if Yoohyeon even noticed that she was in the room yet. If Yoohyeon opened her eyes now it could startle her, so she tapped the floor next to where the younger girl was sat.

Even though Yoohyeon couldn’t hear much, she did feel the vibrations on the floor next to her. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around, not expecting to meet Minji’s kind gaze. Once they were making eye contact, Minji let out a small smile and demonstrated breathing slow and steady trying to get Yoohyeon to do the same. 

After a few minutes of the two girls breathing slowly together, Yoohyeon’s breathing seemed to calm down. But she kept her hands by her ears, not trusting herself to get overloaded again. Seeing that Yoohyeon was marginally better, Minji felt more comfortable to be closer.

So she slowly put her hand on the younger girls shaking leg, light enough to not be overbearing but heavy enough that Yoohyeon knew she was there. The two stayed like that for who knows how long, at one point Yubin even poked her head around the door to check on them. The taller girl didn’t even notice as she had gone back to having her eyes closed, but Minji sent her off with a wave assuring the rapper that they would be fine.

After what felt like twenty more minutes, she finally removed her hands from her ears and instead joined their hands together. Her own hand was clammy from tension but Minji made no comment, she was just happy the younger had made the first move. Everything had to be at the others pace, and she was happy to wait.

Eventually the tension left Yoohyeon’s body, no longer did she feel like she was about to be set off at any given moment with the slightest trigger. Instead Yoohyeon was left with gut twisting guilt that made her heart hurt just to think about.

Slumping in defeat, she leaned against Minji taking comfort in resting on her shoulder. No matter how bad Yoohyeon was feeling, it still felt impossible to take it out on Minji. Something about the older girl just radiated comfort and understanding, a stark contrast from the reactions she received as a child. It was almost enough for Yoohyeon to confide in the leader, tell her everything that she had been putting off for most of her life, but had always put it off. For it never felt like the right time and the thought of being that vulnerable was intimidating to say the least.

“Are you okay?” Minji said in a low voice, breaking the silence. Instead of replying she just shook her head. All considering Yoohyeon felt she owed the leader at least that amount of honesty.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I wouldn’t know what to say”

Minji just nodded, already expecting that answer. Some members were like an open book, others you had to pry information out of them but Yoohyeon was an odd mix. Yubin had once joked that the girl in question was like an open book but with a torn out page, never quite getting the full story. At this moment, it was a pretty accurate description.

“Is Bora mad?” Minji wasn’t expecting the silence to be broken any time soon, but her heart hurt at the way Yoohyeon’s voice cracked and wavered. Soon enough she felt tears run onto her neck from the younger girl's cheek.

“No I don’t think so, she seemed more worried. We all are”

Yoohyeon’s next words were muffled as she nuzzled further into Minji’s comfort at the revelation, she knew it wasn’t the older girl’s intention but it only amplified her guilt. Despite the murmured nature, Minji still managed to piece together that her words were an apology.

“Bora might appreciate an apology, but you’re good for now. Just take your time”

So she did and tried to collect her jumbled thoughts. When she had tried to on her own, it was so easy to get overwhelmed. It was all too much for any one person alone, but luckily for her, she wasn’t alone any more.

“Sometimes it all just gets too much, it’s all just overwhelming and I hate it but it won’t stop and I can’t control it”

At this point Yoohyeon was rambling, all of those pent up emotions coming out at once leaving Minji to pick up the pieces. 

“Do you know why?”

Much to Minji’s dismay she felt Yoohyeon shake her head against her neck, no wonder the frustration bubbled up earlier. It was just unfortunate that it was Bora who suffered the other end of it. But she found comfort in the fact that despite their ups and downs, all of the members knew Bora and Yoohyeon had an unshakable bond. Perhaps it was because they had been roommates for years, or because opposites attract. Either way, she was glad for it.

“We’ll figure it out, but it would be good if you could talk us through what you’re feeling. That way we can help where we can, but give you space when you need it”

For the first time it didn’t feel hopeless, or like she had to deal with alone, but instead felt heard. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Yoohyeon sat up so she could look at Minji properly for the first time.

“Thank you for listening” 

For a moment she was almost taken aback by how earnest the younger girl sounded. In reality she hadn’t done much, but it seemed even the smallest gesture was enough for her. 

“Of course, we do this together”


	3. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sequel to Limits, the previous chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I was going to leave it all as one shots, but Captncrunch17 commented about wanting to see how the other members helped and about how Yoohyeon learnt to deal with it. 
> 
> So here it is! I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> TW// sensory overloads

After about an hour of the two sat on the floor, each caught up in their own thoughts, Minji gently suggested that it was time for them to go back to the other members. Initially the leader was planning to take it at Yoohyeon’s pace, but looking out the window revealed how it was already beginning to get dark outside and they would have to go home at some point. At this stage, the younger girl was just delaying the inevitable.

The mere thought of facing Bora made her heart race, but she knew she at least owed to the older girl an apology. If she could, maybe even an explanation. Opening up to Minji even just the slightest bit had changed her world view, suddenly this part of herself that she had been pushing down and hiding didn’t feel so daunting. 

Of course there were still it’s issues, Yoohyeon couldn’t unlearn years of habitually masking something after just one conversation. But it was a start, and with Minji’s reassuring presence by her side, perhaps a start was enough. At least for now.

So she nodded and let Minji help her to her feet, perhaps after she apologised this horrible weight on her chest would begin to fade. Sensing her burden, Minji gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and led her to where they had left the members. Once the leader pushed open the door all eyes were on them, and for the first time Yoohyeon felt small under their unwavering look. She couldn’t even bring herself to take her gaze off the floor.

“We’ll meet you guys in the car” Minji spoke up first, gesturing for the members to follow her out leaving the two roommates with a chance to speak. Once they were left alone, Yoohyeon finally looked up to meet Bora’s eyes. There was a look of confusion, perhaps a bit of hurt, but not a trace of anger.

“So what happened?” Bora asked, never the one to beat around the bush. But she didn’t quite realise that such a question was complicated at best, impossible at worst.

“Would you believe me if I said I wasn’t sure?” It was the truth, but it wasn’t the whole truth and so she continued “The whole thing is like haze, I can’t even remember what I said. But that’s no excuse and I truly am sorry for hurting you”. 

With each word Yoohyeon spoke her head hung lower in shame, the older girl deserved answers but she just didn’t have any to give her. That feeling frustrated her to no end.

“If you can’t remember, then I’ll forget it. It’s in the past, on one condition” 

That made Yoohyeon look up in shock, not expecting this conversation to go in this direction at all. When she had lashed out as a child as a result of being so overwhelmed, but was able to offer no explanation for her actions, she was scolded heavily. The part of her that had never really gotten over that expected the same to happen today.

“What is it?” She asked eventually, still thinking this outcome was too good to be true regardless of what Bora’s condition was.

“You tell us what’s going on in there” The older girl replied while gently tapping Yoohyeon’s temple, perhaps Bora was more observant than she gave her credit for. But she nodded in response. Afterall, the conversation was long overdue.

All of the member’s sighed in relief when the roommates exited the building hand in hand.

Later that day, Minji called for a group meeting with Yoohyeon’s permission. Sure enough, each member was sat around the kitchen table all looking expectantly at Minji, except for the tallest who was looking down trying to focus on calming herself. She trusted her members with her life, and whatever was going on was a big part of her life, so she could do this. Yoohyeon needed to do this.

“We all know what happened today, and Yoohyeon wants to tell you all something. But this isn’t an easy conversation and she doesn’t have all the answers, so let’s try and be patient”

Each member was listening intently and nodded at the leader’s words, leaving it up to Yoohyeon to take the stage.

“Sometimes,” Yoohyeon began but her voice immediately cracked with tension, this was already harder than she thought it would be. But it was necessary, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Sometimes everything gets too much, quiet noises become unbearable or lights become blinding and I just… panic. Or take it out on others”

With the last sentence she sent Bora a guilty look, but the older girl just shook her head somehow perfectly converting to Yoohyeon, “Don’t worry about it, as I said it’s already forgotten”. But Yubin spoke up, breaking their silent communication.

“If it’s only sometimes, do you know why it happens?”

There it was, the million dollar question that had been plaguing her for years. It was so frustrating not being able to answer a question about your own brain, something that you should know. She just shook her head, not noticing how her leg began to bounce under the table. But Minji noticed and placed a reassuring hand upon it, not enough to make her stop, but enough to let her know she was there. Much like she had done earlier.

“Can you give us some more things that overwhelm you? Just so we know what to look out for if it happens again”

More like when it happened again, Yoohyeon grimly thought. But she wracked her brain for a list, casting her mind back to all of those unpleasant experiences for a cause.

“When I’m already on edge, things like clocks ticking or just the sound of a fan can make it worse. But unexpected things can start it” Slowly but surely, the more she spoke, the easier it was to continue.

“That makes sense” The youngest piped up unexpectedly, making all heads turn towards her.

“...It does?”

“Think about it,” Gahyeon continued, “Yoohyeon hates when we laugh loudly, especially when it’s out of nowhere. She always covers her ears”

Their eyes widened at the revelation, suddenly everything was clicking into place. Even Yoohyeon hadn’t connected those dots, she wondered what else she hadn’t noticed.

“You also hate when balloons pop suddenly, you always cover your ears” Hadong offered up, remembering back to the last time they had a birthday party. The younger girl had to leave the room when they were disposing of the balloons, but they hadn’t thought anything of it at the time.

“These are all auditory things but what about skinship? Is that also an issue?” 

Of course Siyeon was the one to bring this up, afterall she was well known for clinging to her members. Constantly touching them in one way or another, but she was willing to go cold turkey if it meant she was adding to the issue.

Yoohyeon took a minute to think about this one, and they all waited patiently. Once more she wished it was more simple, that there was a straight answer that she could give them. Being an idol was hard enough and she couldn’t help but feel guilty by bringing what felt like a minefield of potential triggers to the table, making life even more difficult.

“Usually it’s fine I think, but when I’m overwhelmed it depends” she took a minute to figure out how it was best to word this, “Sometimes even a simple touch can feel suffocating but other times it helps ground me, like earlier”

Minji smiled in relief at the knowledge that she had done the right thing before, to be honest she felt so out of her depth that she was scared of only making things worse.

“I guess it’s fine if it’s on my terms, if that makes sense”

Siyeon nodded at that, seemingly satisfied by her response.

“It must be so difficult for you, I can’t even imagine” Minji spoke up unexpectedly, she had been quiet for most of the conversation letting others air their thoughts and questions, but her voice was dripping with kindness. The others murmured their agreements, it was hard to picture being almost assaulted by everyday things or mundane sounds. 

But the sympathy felt foriegn to Yoohyeon’s ears, she wasn’t expecting them to understand let alone them to offer up pieces of the puzzle that she herself was yet to put together. It made her realise just how deep their bond ran, and she swore to never take it for granted. 

A part of her had feared they would repeat those same words to her that she had heard in the past, that she was being unreasonable or irrational. It had been said so many times that Yoohyeon had started to believe it, making her feel an unbearable sense of guilt every time it happened. It was only now that she had shared it did she realise how utterly isolating it was to keep it all inside. But there was still one thing that was worrying her.

“Can you promise me one thing?”

They all shared a questioning look, but Bora was the one to respond.

“Anything.”

“Please don’t treat me like I’m glass, I don’t want anything to change and if I lash out at you I still need to be held accountable” Yoohyeon took a deep breath, for some reason this was almost the hardest part of the conversation, “Having an explanation doesn’t mean I have an excuse”

“...That’s more than one thing” Bora joked, but was quickly chastised with a slap from Siyeon. Minji could only roll her eyes, but agreed on behalf of all of them.

“We promise”

The next time she felt overwhelmed happened sooner than Yoohyeon would have liked, but she couldn’t control mother nature as a thunderstorm bellowed out threateningly. If flinching at every clap of thunder wasn’t enough, each flash of lightning felt like she was staring into the sun. Yoohyeon hated them for how unpredictable they were meaning she was on edge for hours at a time, not to mention how unescapable they were.

She ended up taking refuge under Bora’s duvet covers as her legs were shaking so much Yoohyeon didn’t trust them to get up the ladder to her own bed in one piece. In a meagre attempt to block out the large claps of thunder, her hands pressed desperately against her ears but it wasn’t enough. 

Everything was all too much, but she didn’t know what to do. There was nothing in this situation she could control leaving her to cling on by a thread, wishing the minutes away. But much to her relief, she noticed the door to her room open and Bora walk in.

With this assault of auditory stimulus, having someone physically there to ground her was exactly what she needed.

“Yooh?” Bora asked as quietly as she could.

She couldn’t bring herself to respond and add to the already overwhelming noise, but she did manage to remove a hand from her head and extend it to the older girl in the hopes that she would understand. With Bora being Bora, of course she did.

“Shuffle up”

Within a few moments Bora was underneath the duvet with her, trying to assess the situation. Slowly she brought the duvet over both of their heads, successfully blocking out the bright flashes of lightning. Thankfully the material wasn’t too thick so they didn’t get overheated.

Next she brought her own hands to Yoohyeon’s own, pressing down to help block out the sounds. Truth be told, Bora wasn’t the biggest fan of thunderstorms either and so she could only imagine what it was like for the younger girl who was still trembling slightly next to her. 

But with the extra pressure blocking out the noise, and the storm beginning to calm down, Yoohyeon began to relax. Even to the extent that she fell asleep in Bora’s secure arms, counting her blessings that the older girl had come when she did to pull her back from the brink of a full on meltdown.

Over time, it was an unspoken agreement that either Minji or Bora dealt with the worst of the sensory overload episodes. When it got really bad, sometimes both of them, but that was a rare occasion. The two eldest had the best intuition when it came to what Yoohyeon needed at her worst, but that didn’t mean the other members couldn’t help in their own ways.

Like Siyeon, who had excitedly ran over to Minji when the eldest had mentioned a package arrived for her.

“It’s for Yoohyeon, actually” Siyeon said before she could be told off for buying more things for herself.

That gained the taller girl’s attention from where she was comfortably sprawled on the sofa, reading.

“For me?” She asked while sitting up.

“See for yourself” 

Taking the package from the older girl’s hands, she slowly began to open it. When she finally pulled out the box, she couldn’t help but smile. Siyeon had bought her some noise cancelling headphones and they didn’t look cheap either.

“It’s perfect, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before”

“Sometimes the easiest solution is the hardest to see, that’s why we’re here to help”

Yoohyeon tried not to cry, she really did, but she still found her tears falling as Siyeon wrapped her in a hug. Soon those headphones became her most precious possession.

A similar thing happened with Handong when Yoohyeon felt on edge but for the life of her couldn’t figure out why. That familiar sense of frustration bubbled within her, but was stopped when Handong spoke up.

“Swap jackets with me” It was seemingly out of nowhere and so it took a minute for Yoohyeon to even process her words.

“What…?”

“Your jacket, I think that’s what is bothering you. The material isn’t great but it’s fine for me, so let’s swap”

Yoohyeon was shocked for two reasons. The first being that she hadn’t even mentioned that something was bothering her, and so Handong picking up on it was unexpected to say the least. The second being that when she put on Handong’s jacket instead of her own, she felt infinitely better almost instantly.

Yubin found her own way to help, Yoohyeon had soon discovered when she found the younger girl reading a book that she didn’t recognise.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a book on Sensory processing disorder, even if you don’t have it I figured there might be something that might help in here”

Yubin misunderstood Yoohyeon’s shocked silence as negative, and quickly back tracked.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped, it’s just-”

But Yoohyeon cut her off, “No, no it’s more than fine”. She knew Yubin liked to deal with facts or things that were in front of her, to be honest Yoohyeon was almost too afraid to do her own research on it. Scared on what she might find, so having Yubin conceptualise it for her was perfect.

“So what did you find?”

The next hour quickly passed by with Yubin’s rambling, excited to share what she had learnt. No wonder she had ended up as the rapper.

Gahyeon had much more foresight than people gave her credit for, she demonstrated this at an award ceremony. Dreamcatcher, along with many other idols, were stood on stage waving at fans while music played out of the speakers.

Out of nowhere, Yoohyeon felt hands press against her ears. She turned around to see Gahyeon standing on her tiptoes in order to reach the older girl's head. With their height difference made even more prominent by Yoohyeon’s heels, the sight was almost comical. 

When she gave a questioning look, Gahyeon released the pressure just enough to say “I think there’s going to be fireworks soon” before pressing down once more.

Sure enough, mere moments later, a loud bang erupted taking most of them by surprise but the sound was muffled to Yoohyeon. Leaving her to enjoy the firework display for the first time in a long time.

Looking back, Yoohyeon wasn’t sure how she had managed to make it this far without her members knowing. But one thing was for sure, she was glad she had them now.


	4. Bad start with a good end

This had not been Yoohyeon’s day, not in the slightest, and to be honest she was tired of it. Usually she could pat herself on the back for being patient and having the ability to brush things off her shoulder, but today was not like other days.

It started as soon as she woke up to the sound of her alarm, but when she opened her eyes she instantly regretted it. A blinding hot pain shot through her skull, each time her alarm rang it was like a hammer being hit against her brain. Yoohyeon wanted nothing more to drift off back to sleep but that wasn’t an option as Bora began to shift beneath her.

“Turn it off Yooh” the older girl grumbled, sounding just as miserable as Yoohyeon felt. Bora wasn’t a morning person but she always got the job done, that was being proven as she heard the older girl shuffling about their shared room getting ready for the day.

Groaning with effort, Yoohyeon picked up the ringing phone to turn it off but squinted in pain as soon as the light hit her eyes. Bringing her hands up to her temples, she tried to massage the feeling away but to no success. 

“What’s wrong with you?” A now fully prepared Bora asked while standing on tiptoes, trying to peer over into Yoohyeon’s bunk.

“Headache”

“Take a painkiller, you’ll be grand” a very unsympathetic Bora responded, “Don’t forget, we’ve got practice in two hours”. And with that, she left Yoohyeon alone to stare at the roof above her. Dreading the day to come, she began to get ready very reluctantly. 

About twenty minutes later, Yoohyeon stumbled out of her room heading towards the kitchen to see her members eating their various breakfasts. But the pain in her head had killed any appetite she may have had. Even though you were supposed to eat before taking painkillers, she couldn’t bring herself to and so instead settled for sipping on a glass of water.

“What’s wrong with you?” Gahyeon asked bluntly, it was a small blessing that she hadn’t wormed a way to insult Yoohyeon into the question.

“Headache” Bora helpfully supplied from where she was cutting fruits, every so often handing a slice to Siyeon sat next to her.

“Oh, just take a painkiller, you’ll be-” Siyeon said around a mouth full of food but was cut off with a grumpy reply.

“Grand, yeah I know” Yoohyeon said no more once the painkillers had gone down, now just playing the waiting game for them to kick in. Instead of staying in the kitchen with the rest of the members, she chose to take refuge on the sofa with her arm slung over her eyes to block the light.

It took a while, slowly but surely the pain began to dull to the extent to which she found herself almost drifting off to sleep again. Perhaps any other day, things would have gone her way and she would have got the joy of a peaceful nap. But not this one, as right before she could drift off, Minji was calling out telling them that practice had been moved to start earlier.

It was tempting to just ignore the leader, or plead her case to be allowed to stay behind. One thing she could always appreciate, even on bad days like this, was how kind Minji was. Always prioritising her members health over everything else, but she didn’t want to take advantage of the leader's kindness. Afterall, as Bora and Siyeon had pointed out, it was just a headache. 

With a reluctant groan, she pulled herself up off the sofa but as soon as she was sat up her head spun for a moment. Clearly lying down was not her best idea. After a few seconds, the world came to a standstill. Despite her head hurting less, she still didn’t feel good.

But the problem was she didn’t know why, she could deal with headaches, but everything felt wrong. Like a heavy weight had been placed on her shoulders all of a sudden, perhaps it was just a simple burnout and a break was in order. All of the members had moments like this where they felt overly sensitive or just completely overwhelmed without realising it, over the years they had all found their individual ways to cope. 

Usually Yoohyeon’s preferred method was hiding away under the safety of her duvet, or perhaps going back home and playing with Pie. If only she had the time for it, for now she would have to press on.

“Get a move on Yooh” Minji called out from the corridor while tossing Yoohyeon’s shoes in her direction. Apparently more time had passed than she thought, as when she looked up the members had gathered by the door getting ready to leave.

In a hurry she pulled on her beloved converse and went to join the others at the door but was stopped by Yubin tugging on her arm.

“Your jacket, it’s cold outside” Yoohyeon could only give a nod of thanks while taking the coat from her outstretched hand and quickly pulled it on around her. As soon as the group stepped outside, the cold wind hitting her harshly sending chills up her body, she couldn’t be more thankful for Yubin’s foresight.

It was a typical day with the members for the most part, with a mix of chaos balanced with professionalism. Usually Bora’s tension would help her own energy levels during practice but this was not the day for it, everyone could tell that she was far from in the mood. 

That didn’t stop the other members from joining in however, the noise level rising with every person that got sucked in. It got to the extent that every member, apart from Yubin who was acting as a makeshift pillow for Yoohyeon, was in on it.

“How are you feeling?” Yubin asked after a while, while Yoohyeon couldn’t see the younger girl’s face as her eyes were closed, she was sure it had a look of gentle concern on it. It wasn’t hard to notice Yubin’s worried glances in her direction while they practiced, and the thought was appreciated.

“Been better, but I’m alright now” 

Yubin gave a hum in response, and the two went back to their corner of peace and quiet. Just enjoying each other’s company.

That left Yoohyeon to reflect on how the day was going so far. Practice had gone okay, it could have been worse but it definitely could be going better. During some parts of the choreography Yoohyeon found herself messing up where she wouldn’t usually, but no one commented. Despite this, there was a noticeable growing frustration in the air with each repetitive move.

Hence Minji calling for the break they were currently on, she was always able to perfectly read the room and today was no exception. With the break and moment of peace she found on Yubin’s lap, she felt marginally better. But even with the chaos of the room that didn’t stop the rapper from hearing Yoohyeon’s stomach growl hungrily, it was around 4pm and all she had ingested today was water.

“Who’s hungry?” Yubin called out, immediately gaining all of their attention.

“Can we get take out?” Siyeon asked excitedly while looking to Minji for an answer, considering that they’d worked hard and it was past lunch time, she easily agreed.

“What about snacks? We can’t just get takeout” the youngest piped up. Quickly that idea spiralled into playing a game of rock, paper, scissors with the loser having to go to the convenience store to buy them all snacks as they awaited for their food to arrive. And of course, with Yoohyeon’s luck, she managed to lose.

As soon as she saw her paper to Handong’s scissors, the taller girl let out a miserable groan. Going into the cold was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had lost fair and square.

“I can go if you want” Yubin offered as soon as she saw the result, not even thinking twice about how tired she was or how she too did not fancy a walk in this weather. But Yoohyeon shook her head with a smile, turning down her offer.

“It’s fine, I’ll be back in a bit”

Once she had got everyone’s orders and had remembered to put on her coat, she was off. But much like earlier she found herself cursing her luck, for as soon as she set foot outside the company building the heavens opened up and it began to rain. 

Despite the situation, Yoohyeon was glad she didn’t make Yubin go. For some reason the younger girl hated the feeling of wet clothes and it was safe to say her joggers would be soaked by the time she got back, even with the store being a mere few streets away.

Hurrying her pace and pulling her coat tightly around her, she made her way down the nearly empty street. Empty with the exception of what looked like a child shivering while sat on a bench, when Yoohyeon got closer she heard the distinctive sound of crying.

With no one else around to help, Yoohyeon made her way over with tentative steps. Now that she was closer, it was obvious that the child was around the age of six, much too young to be out on their own in conditions like this.

“Are you okay?”

The sound of her voice made the child look up, their wide eyes were red from where they’d been crying.

“I lost my mum” the young girl managed to say, but as soon as she said those words it's like the reality set in which made her cry even harder making Yoohyeon panic. 

“Hey it’s okay! I’ll wait with you” Yoohyeon tried to reassure while taking off her only protection against the rain, “I’m just going to put this on you if that’s alright”

Once the girl gave a small nod, Yoohyeon helped her put her arms through and zipped it up. Her coat absolutely swamped the child, but it got the job done as her body stopped shaking with chills.

“There, that’s better. Now can you tell me your name?” Yoohyeon was crouching at this point so she could be eye level with the girl, she used to do it with Bora to annoy the older girl, but she had read somewhere that it made children feel more at ease and less intimidated.

“Do Hana” the girl now known as Hana sniffled out after a moment, Yoohyeon couldn’t help but smile at how cute she looked bundled up in her coat.

“That’s a wonderful name, my name is Yoohyeon” She said while extending her hand out, melting when a much smaller one appeared out of the material to shake it. But before she could say any more, a very angry shout rang out accompanied with hurried steps.

“Hana! What did I say about talking to weird people!” The newly emerged woman said while appearing out of seemingly nowhere, whisking the child up with a glare in Yoohyeon’s direction. By the time she could even comprehend what just happened, the two were gone.

“....Weird people, what’s weird is leaving your child alone” Yoohyeon grumbled to no one while picking herself up off the wet ground, “God I’m soaked”

As soon as those words left her mouth, her eyes widened in realisation.

“Shit! My coat!”

Yoohyeon tried to run after them but the woman had disappeared as quickly as she had arrived, leaving her stood in the middle of the street, out of breath, soaking and coatless. At least her wallet was in the pocket of her joggers and not in her coat one, that would have been the final straw.

Rain was still coming down heavily, the clouds growing darker and angrier by the minute, and she still needed to buy those damn snacks. Holding her drenched frame with her arms in a meager attempt to keep warm, she set off towards her original destination.

The sound of a bell rang out as she pushed the convenience door open, followed by the sloshing of her ruined shoes on the once pristine floor. By the glare of the cashier she guessed it had been freshly mopped, but Yoohyeon couldn’t bring herself to feel too bad. Afterall, she could almost guarantee that she was having a worse day.

Not wanting to spend any more time in there than absolutely necessary, she quickly grabbed the food that she had been instructed to buy and made her way to the counter. It was hard to ignore the glare of the older man, almost feeling like the look her members gave her when she accidentally spoiled something, but it’s not like she wanted to get soaked and ruin his store.

Keeping her eyes trained on the floor, it was a relatively painless experience which was in a stark contrast with the rest of her day. Maybe she should have taken her time to try and wait out the rain, for it was still hammering down outside. But Yoohyeon didn’t want to keep her members waiting, and to be honest, she didn’t want to spend any more time in this shop. Even if that meant facing the rain.

With that in mind she left while saying her thanks, as soon as she was clear of his line of sight Yoohyeon broke into a sprint. Her trusty converse carrying her through the puddles and muddy terrain. It brought back memories of winning that race, and she couldn’t be happier that despite her usual clumsiness, that she had been blessed with the gift of speed. 

But even with her impressive pace, she did not have the impressive stamina to go with it. Sure, she made it back in record time, but her lungs were burning with excursion and the poor girl was still soaked to the bone. By now the chill had began to set in and her usually warm toned skin was beginning to be tinged with blue.

Her teeth chattered as she put in the passcode for the company building but as soon as she was inside the warmth embraced her. Instead of ruining the floor here too, Yoohyeon decided to just take her shoes off and leave them by the door. It was more practical but she did get a few funny looks from passing staff, but she was much too tired to explain herself. Instead, Yoohyeon headed towards the practice room where she could hear her members chatting.

As soon as she entered the room, all eyes were on her.

“What the hell happened to you?” Bora was the first to ask, her tone filled with shock and pure confusion. 

“And what happened to your coat?” Yubin added on, noticing her soaked through shirt.

Before she could answer their questions, Minji appeared with a spare set of practice clothes. The eldest always liked to keep a spare set on hand just in case.

“First, get changed. You’ll get sick if you stay like that, you can take a shower once we get back to the dorm”

Wordlessly Yoohyeon took the clothes given to her and went into a vocal room to get changed. The feeling of putting fresh clothes on damp skin was unpleasant to say the least, but Minji was right, it was better than staying in her other clothes. Once she was changed, but still shoeless, she felt marginally better, but it didn’t change the injustice that she felt from being called weird and having her coat stolen.

As soon as she went back into the practice room, her members expected answers. So Yoohyeon began to recount the story with chattering teeth, despite Minji’s best efforts of rubbing her arms to warm her up, not missing a miserable detail.

“They actually left with your coat?” Siyeon gasped out, not believing the sequence of events.

“I swear Yooh, this could have only happened to you” 

Yoohyeon grumbled at that, just because it was true doesn’t mean Handong had to say it. But Minji’s words from beside her made her feel marginally better.

“I’m proud of you though, it was a selfless thing to do. Even if it didn’t work out well”

The other members voiced their agreements and she couldn’t help but blush at the compliments, even after all these years together Yoohyeon still shied away when the attention was completely on her in a positive light. Somehow Bora’s teasing was easier to deal with than this.

But before she could dwell, the youngest spoke up around a mouthful of the snacks Yoohyeon had bought. At least after all that trouble, the food was being appreciated.

“We better head home before the delivery arrives”

That was all that was needed for them all to gather their things and head towards the exit, but right before the door Yoohyeon stopped. It was still raining and she had no coat and there was no way she was putting her ruined converse back on.

“Put this on” Yubin said while emerging next to her, giving Yoohyeon her own coat. She couldn’t help but smile at the similarities between now and this morning's events.

“What about you though?” She asked while pulling it around herself.

“I’ll give you a piggyback to the car, you’ll protect me from the rain”

At that the members seemed to notice for the first time that the taller girl was in fact shoeless. With a grunt, Yoohyeon managed to clamber onto Yubin’s back. It looked ridiculous considering how much taller Yoohyeon was, but they made it work and managed to get to the car in one piece with Yubin still being relatively dry.

The car ride home was peaceful, all considering. As soon as they entered the dorm, Minji took the bag of wet clothes from her hand to put in the washing machine and Handong was pushing her in the direction of the shower. Even though her teeth had stopped chattering in the car ride home and her skin had returned to a more normal colour, she was still cold to the touch.

Before she closed the bathroom door behind her, Bora appeared with some of Yoohyeon’s own clothes. One of which being a warm and fluffy hoodie that the older girl liked to steal from time to time, when she wore it Bora resembled the kid from earlier.

Once she had finished up and returned Minji’s clothes back to her with a thankful smile, the delivery food arrived with perfect timing. At this point Yoohyeon really regretted skipping breakfast, but at least she had food now.

They were all sat around the living room, Yoohyeon, Yubin and Gahyeon had chosen to eat on the sofa while the rest were on the floor. Handong of course was sat in her signature pose of one leg up, leaning over while looking at her phone on the floor and eating.

Yoohyeon had eaten what she could, knowing from past experience that eating too much on an empty stomach would only make you feel sick later, and was now lying over the two youngests slap who were content eating their food around her.

Despite the hoodie, the shower, the warm food in her stomach, Yoohyeon still couldn’t shake the feeling of being cold. Not to mention how tired she felt, her eyelids drooping shut slowly. It seemed after a day of practice and unexpected running can really take it out of you. The two above her seemed to notice the slight shaking that still prevailed, and gave each other a concerned look.

“Do you want a blanket?”

It took a moment to process Gahyeon’s question, her tired brain was working on overdrive to come up with a response. But eventually, she shook her head. At this point it would probably be best to just go to sleep and hope that when she woke up she would be feeling better.

“I think I’m gunna call it a night”

While Yoohyeon was maneuvering herself off their laps, Yubin spoke up.

“Go to my room, I’ll meet you there in a minute”

Too tired to ask why, she just nodded and headed towards her friends room rather than her own. She sat down on the bed with a content sigh and closed her eyes, no matter how bad her mood or how disastrous the day’s events had been, there was something about Yubin’s room that was so comforting to her. This sense of peace only doubled when Yubin was in the room with her.

True to her word, Yubin joined her a few moments later. The sound of the door opening made Yoohyeon open her eyes, and the younger girl greeted her with a small smile.

“You look tired, you should got to sleep”

“But you can’t sleep when I’m in here?” Yoohyeon tilted her head in confusion, after that discovery she hadn’t slept in Yubin’s room for a while not wanting to bother the younger girl. Sure, sometimes the two read in here just enjoying each other's company, but not sleep.

“You’ll be warmer with me, besides I’m not planning on sleeping for a while”

That was enough for Yoohyeon as the two got under the duvet, initially she had planned on giving Yubin as much space as she could but that idea quickly went out the window. Seeing that Yoohyeon was still cold, Yubin took action.

“Come here” She said while shifting their positions so they were facing each other, Yoohyeon found herself tucked into Yubin, with the younger’s arms going around her head so somehow she could still read her book. Sure enough, she began to warm up and didn’t stand a chance to stay awake any longer.

For the first time that day, everything felt like it was right in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was kinda debating posting this one, cause I know it can be better but couldn’t figure out how. It felt like a waste to scrap it entirely so here we are


	5. Not your typical beach day -2Hyeon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t think there are any warnings in particular for this one, maybe if you don’t like the idea of tight spaces give it a miss? But it’s not too overwhelming.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Despite Yoohyeon not being the youngest, the other members always took care of her like she was. Even Yubin, who is two months younger than her. It wasn’t her fault that she was forgetful, a little bit clumsy and just generally needed attention, but it didn’t change the fact there was usually a member assigned to supervise her at all times.

The only person that Yoohyeon really got to play a protective role with consistently, was Gahyeon. It was difficult to put into words how much she cherished it. Like when the youngest got emotional during her speech and instinctively hid behind Yoohyeon, knowing that there was no safer place than with her. Or how Gahyeon always takes comfort in Yoohyeon’s side, their heights matching perfectly like pieces of a puzzle.

Not to mention that whenever Gahyeon was feeling any sort of doubt or insecurity, Yoohyeon was always the first to jump in and praise her for really the bare minimum. Because for Yoohyeon, her mere existence was perfect. Even when the younger girl was teasing her, she still looked at Gahyeon like she had all the answers. Like her brightness could swallow the darkness whole.

Everyone knew that Yoohyeon would do anything to put a smile on Gahyeon’s face, today was no exception. Truth be told it had been a tough week for their youngest, things going wrong in everyday life that just seemed to pile up, leaving her to struggle on day by day only standing because she had her members there to hold her up. 

So she had devised a plan. Despite Yoohyeon being one of the most forgetful members, she didn’t forget Gahyeon mentioning how she wanted to go to the beach and so she took it upon herself to make it happen. Starting with convincing the members.

To be honest, the member’s would have agreed to go anyway, all wanting to cheer up the youngest but they enjoyed seeing this side of Yoohyeon. Besides, who were they to turn down a bribe. By the end of it, Bora had requested that she tidy their room for a week, at some point had to go to the PC with Siyeon and shopping with Handong, and find all the books she had borrowed from Yubin to return them. 

Only Minji gave her a pat on the shoulder and offered to help plan, much too kind to take advantage of the situation.

That’s how the members found themselves clambering into a car borrowed from the company on their day off, headed to the beach. Gahyeon had no idea where they were going but was far too caught up in a conversation with Handong about a new restaurant that had opened up to care. Not even noticing that Yoohyeon was driving rather than their manager much to Bora’s protests, claiming that the younger girl shouldn’t be trusted with a license in the first place.

Even with the dancer’s doubts, the journey was going smoothly. Minji was feeding Yoohyeon snacks every so often and Siyeon was in control of the aux cord, keeping their energies up with her eclectic music taste. 

Thankfully, there was no traffic to be seen on the almost empty roads. Everyone was either at work or at school, which meant they arrived at their destination within a couple of hours. The members couldn’t help but smile at the gasp Gahyeon let out as she opened the door and saw the sparkling blue ocean. 

Quite frankly Yoohyeon didn’t like the sea, in fact she would go as far to say as she was scared of it. Something about the deceptiveness of looking so peaceful yet having such a destructive capability didn’t sit right with her.

But with the grin of delight on Gahyeon’s face, those thoughts were at the back of her mind.

“Oh my god, whose idea was this?” the youngest exclaimed once she had gotten over her initial shock.

“You can thank Yoohyeon for this one” Handong responded from where the oldest line were getting their essentials from the boot of the car, as they had brought picnic blankets, games, food, the whole lot.

Instead of vocalising her thanks, Gahyeon chose to give the hardworking planner a massive hug. Conveying more than words ever could, Yoohyeon couldn’t help but melt into it, all of her hard work and planning was already worth it for this moment.

As much as the taller girl may have wanted to, they couldn’t stay like that forever and soon broke apart to help the other members set up. With their flawless teamwork, they were good to go within minutes leaving them all to enjoy the beach in their own separate ways once Minji thought they were sufficiently protected from the sun.

It didn’t take long for Siyeon and Bora to try and throw each other in the ocean, inevitably resulting in them both getting soaked. But Minji had predicted this would happen and had packed a spare set of clothes for everyone. Whereas Yubin had found a comfortable spot on top of a rock that she had climbed, giving her a wonderful view of the landscape as she read. Only a few meters away, Handong and Minji were sat on a blanket enjoying the sun, while making their way through the food.

While it was a hot day, the sky was mostly clear with the exception of a few clouds, there was a pleasant breeze making it more comfortable and so Gahyeon and Yoohyeon decided to take this opportunity and go exploring. 

With the sand on their bare feet, they left the main group behind as they went further down the beach, but promised to keep insight of Yubin. If the group babied Yoohyeon, it was nothing compared to how they treated Gahyeon. So together, they were quite the pair.

Yoohyeon stopped to pick up a particularly flat rock and attempted to skim it, only for it to disappear into a wave. They’d have to watch the tide, she wasn’t sure how far or how quickly it came in on this beach.

The sound of Gahyeon’s excited voice made her look up from where she was searching for cool rocks to bring home.

“Yoohyeon, there’s a cave!”

Sure enough, next to where Gahyeon was, revealed an entrance into the side of the cliff. There were no signs saying not to, and once Yoohyeon had managed to communicate long distance with Yubin what was happening, the two made their way in.

It was smaller than it first look, Yoohyeon couldn’t stand to her full height meaning she was hunched over a little bit but Gahyeon didn’t seem to be hindered much.

“This is more of a hole than a cave” She grumbled when she accidentally caught her head on a rock, rubbing it pathetically.

“You’re just too tall, stop complaining. But it doesn’t seem to go much further”

When the two turned to head back out, they stopped in their tracks when the sand began to rumble under their feet. The two looked at each other in shock, it was rare for there to be earthquakes in Korea but not unheard of. In her haste to get over to where Gahyeon was, she slipped and with a cry fell to the floor.

Soon the earthquake was the least of their issues, as a large crash plunged them into darkness. Sand kicked up and instantly coated their lungs, causing their chests to heave at the intrusion. 

“Yooh?” Gahyeon called out, being the first to recover. Fumbling for her phone, the cave was soon illuminated by the light of her torch revealing the older girl still on the floor. “You okay?” she asked once she was by her side, Yoohyeon’s eyes looked dazed but not completely blank.

“Yeah, must of hit my head when I fell”

“Let me have a look”

As gently as she could, Gahyeon parted her hair and shone the torch for a better look. Sure enough, blood oozed out of a cut about a centimeter above her temple. It didn’t look too bad, unpleasant, but she’d live.

“What happened?”

“Looks like the earthquake was enough to cause a landslide” Gahyeon responded while pointing her torch in the direction towards the now blocked entrance. With a help up, the two made their way over, and tried to dig their way out to no success.

“It’s no use” Gahyeon said eventually while sitting down, “It’s better to just wait for help, we might be making it worse”

Yoohyeon was much too dizzy and tired to argue, instead she slumped down next to Gahyeon and rested her injured head on her shoulder.

“Yubin saw where we went, they know where to find us”

It was a small relief, but a relief nevertheless, especially as Gahyeon was not a fan of being enclosed in small spaces with no exit. Each minute that passed, the cave seemed to get smaller and smaller in her mind but before she could spiral any further, a muffled shout broke her thoughts.

“Is that Bora?” Only the main dancer could make her voice sound so loud, but Gahyeon was a close second.

“In here!” She shouted back, Yoohyeon couldn’t help but wince at the noise, the pounding in her head clearly not agreeing.

“Can’t you just call them?” Gahyeon gave a sheepish grin, somehow no one had thought of that but a moment later the younger girl held the phone out on loudspeaker so they could both hear.

“Are you guys alright?” Minji’s concerned voice echoed throughout the cave from the phone.

“We’re okay, a little banged up but fine”

“We can’t get you out from our side, there’s too much dirt and fallen rocks but Siyeon’s calling for help so hang tight okay?”

With that the call ended, after they agreed that conserving battery was for the best. Afterall, they had no idea how long they would be in there for. 

“Perhaps we should turn the flashlight off too?” At first Gahyeon was reluctant, she didn’t like the idea of not being able to see anything at all, it was almost even more claustrophobic. But after Yoohyeon’s gentle reassurance that their eyes would adjust and that she was there if Gahyeon needed, she complied.

True to her word, after five minutes or so, the two could make out what was in front of them. No longer was the darkness all consuming, especially not when Gahyeon saw the small smile that Yoohyeon offered while joining their hands. The silent display of support but her nerves at ease despite the situation.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired, a bit dizzy” Yoohyeon’s speech was slower than usual, but not slurred. Gahyeon was no doctor, but she didn’t think those were great symptoms.

“Try and stay awake, you might have a concussion” She got a non committed hum in response, so pressed on. “Why don’t you tell me a story? That’ll keep you awake”

Yoohyeon hummed in thought, when you live with someone and also work with them, you run out of stories pretty fast. It was as if their lives were intertwined but she would have it no other way.

“Did I ever tell you about the time I convinced Siyeon to go to the PC room with me? But we got so competitive we spent the whole night there without realising”

Gahyeon could only laugh at that, for it was so in character for the both of them. “No, what happened?”

“I thought we’d be in trouble with the manager, but Minji was the one who was pissed. Apparently she spent the whole night worrying”

“Didn’t you check your phone?”

Yoohyeon let out an offended gasp, “Pro gamers do not check their phones while playing”

“I saw your birthday stream, you’re far from a pro gamer”

Admittedly, she had no rebuttal for that. Fall guys was a cursed game anyway, so what if she was bad at it. But Gahyeon’s plan had worked, as she no longer felt as if she could fall asleep at any moment.

The sound of the phone ringing broke their momentary silence, it was Minji calling.

“I have good news and bad news” The leader said immediately. Gahyeon and Yoohyeon looked at each other and answered “Good news” simultaneously. 

“Good news is that the fire brigade is here, but the bad news is they can’t get you out the way you came in right now”

“What do you mean?”

“They can’t get their equipment to you because the tide has come in” As soon as those words left her mouth the sound of water gushing startled them. Reasonable large amounts of water began to break through the cracks, with each wave that collided against the cliff, more poured in.

“Yeah we noticed, it’s coming into the cave”

At that Minji went silent, and a new voice appeared.

“My name is Seo Yi-kyung, I’m in charge of getting you guys out of there. Can you tell me how big the cave is?”

“Less than two meters high” Yoohyeon couldn’t help but rub where she had hit her head the first time on the cave roof, “A meter and a bit wide, maybe 5 meters deep?”

The woman hummed in thought as she took in the information, “As the tide keeps coming in, the water is going to come in faster. But don’t panic, it shouldn’t fill up the cave entirely”

“It shouldn’t?” Gahyeon couldn’t help but shout in disbelief, what kind of reassurance was that?

“Why don’t they dig straight down to get to us?” At Gahyeon’s confused look she merely shrugged and followed it up with “What? I play a lot of Minecraft” In a much smaller voice. 

“That just might work, I’ll call you back when I have more information”

And with that, the two were left alone once more. It was hard to stay calm and collected while the already small space was getting smaller by the minute, with the water persistently filling in.

“I’m sorry I got you into this mess, we shouldn’t have gone in here in the first place” Her voice sounded watery, like she was on the brink of tears. Before it was easier to manage her emotions, however with this new issue she couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Let’s not play the blame game, if we did that then you could say I’m at fault for bringing us to the beach in the first place” Yoohyeon quickly reassured, before continuing. “Besides, if it’s any consolation, of all the people I could be stuck with I’m glad it’s you”

“Really?” Gahyeon asked while searching for Yoohyeon’s in the darkness.

“Sure, you’re small and don’t take up much space”

The younger girl could only huff a laugh at that and punched Yoohyeon in the shoulder for good measure. “Bora’s smaller than me you know”

“If Bora was in here with me, the water would be the least of my issues” The taller girl shuddered at the thought.

About an hour passed since their last communication with the firefighter, and the water had risen a considerable amount. By now it was up to Gahyeon’s calf, and the salty water stung the cuts that they didn’t realise they had sustained. Not to mention how could it was, leaving the two to shiver slightly.

The two had moved so they were standing now, trying to remain as dry as possible. But as Yoohyeon was still dizzy, they hugged so the younger could support her. As she rested her head on top of Gahyeon’s, she couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. Earlier she hadn’t wanted their hug to end, and in a way she supposed she got her wish. Just not the way she intended.

“Can you tell me a story now?” Yoohyeon asked, wanting to pass the time. That, and she could tell that the younger girl was getting more and more antsy with each passing minute that they didn’t hear about the plan to get them out of there. 

“When me and Handong were still trainees, we practiced until late at night” Gahyeon began, smiling fondly at the memory. “When the manager came to take us home, we said it was fine and that we would walk home”

“I think I know where this is going”

“Well we were hungry and so we went to the convenience store, but the manager was there and we got caught immediately” Gahyeon continued, confirming Yoohyeon’s suspicions.

“Did you get in trouble?”

“We said we were thirsty and went in for water, I think she knew we were lying but she just took us home” 

Yoohyeon’s trick had worked and Gahyeon felt more calm, not perfect, but better. Thankfully, the phone rang soon after.

“Your idea was sound Yoohyeon” Yi-kyung said, their hearts jumped in excitement at the news, “Stay away from the back of the cave, that’s where we are about to start digging”

Sure enough the loud sound of machinery could be heard in the cave, while Gahyeon had to stop herself from jumping for joy, Yoohyeon was having a much less pleasant time. The noise was almost unbearable, from what it felt like they may as well be using machinery right on her skull.

Removing her hands from where they were wrapped around Gahyeon’s shoulders, she pressed them to her ears to block out the noise. It worked better when the younger noticed what was happening, and brought up her own hands to help. Yoohyeon gave a smile of thanks, knowing that there were no words needed between them.

The water was now well up to Gahyeon’s knees but that no longer mattered as sunlight poured in from the back of the cave, followed by a rope ladder dropping down. At first they squinted at the sight, the bright light blinding them.

Relief filled their bodies as they moved through the water and over to the newly made hole, looking up they saw a woman’s face who they presumed was Yi-kyung. Their suspicions were confirmed when she called for them to come up.

“Youngest first, I’ll hold the ladder steady”

Gahyeon looked like she wanted to argue, but the resolution in Yoohyeon’s eyes stopped her. There was no way she was winning this argument. So she steadily made her way up the ladder and out into fresh air with the firefighter's support, unable to stop her sigh of relief once the sun hit her skin.

Yoohyeon made her way up the ladder a lot less steadily, her clumsy nature was not helped by the persistent dizziness but she made it. Once she was out and safe, the tall girl had the exact same reaction as Gahyeon.

The two thanked the firefighter’s persistently for their hard work, they hated to think of what it would be like if the water had reached their chest. Especially with Gahyeon’s fear of enclosed spaces and Yoohyeon’s fear of the water.

But moments later they were swarmed by a group hug, the members all expressing how relieved they were to see them safe and sound.

Despite how tight the members' grasp were on them, and how clustered they all were, it didn’t feel claustrophobic in the slightest. Instead their hearts were filled with warmth as they each felt the love of seven suns.

After a while, they all broke apart. Which is when Yoohyeon turned back towards the youngest.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get your beach day”

Gahyeon looked towards the sky, where the sun was still shining proudly. “Still plenty of the day left” She responded with a smile. That was enough for Yoohyeon to take her hand as the two went to head towards where the blanket was still set up with food, but before they could make it, the leader’s voice stopped them in their tracks.

“Not before you both see the paramedic”

The two sighed in synch, “Yes mum”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With DC I’m pretty comfortable with writing Yooh with Yubin, Bora and Minji but struggle with the other members.
> 
> For some reason their dynamics are just harder to write but practice makes perfect and I don’t want them not in here so I hope it was alrighty.
> 
> Ps if you read my Suyoo fic it’s cold without you here, don’t ask me why I apparently love earth quakes trapping people as a plot point, idk either


	6. Deja vu - Jiyoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is a DC shorts collection without a Deja vu au?

The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet, is fear. 

Yoohyeon was no exception. Fear of being deceived, fear of losing power, fear of failure. But fear itself isn’t worthy of concern, it is who we become while in its clutches. 

Will you be proud of that person? Will you forgeive them for the sacrifices they had to make? Will you even recognise them is the true question.

Eventually the person staring back at you is the very thing you should have feared from the start. 

With time, these emotions consumed her entire being as her friends watched on helplessly, leading her to this moment, with her sword pointing at the love of her life.

For months now, she had been scared. Not knowing who to trust other than herself as she felt the people who were supposed to be her family look at her in doubt, in suspicion, like she was weak. It made her blood boil.

These feelings devoured any sense of humanity that she might have had left, not realising that once they were divided, once doubt had been placed into Yoohyeon’s mind, any semblance of power she once had would wash away.

The one person who stood a chance to pull her back from the darkness knelt before her, bleeding from a wound that she had inflicted without remorse. In her twisted mind, it was justified. More than that, it was necessary. That was until the broken girl spoke up in a small voice, strained with pain.

“It’s okay to be afraid” Minji knew what was happening to Yoohyeon, had witnessed her downfall from the sidelines helpless to prevent what seemed like was inevitable. 

The others had warned her to stay back, to not interfere and yet running was not in her nature. Especially if it meant running from Yoohyeon. “But you can’t let that fear control you”

As she spoke the blood that had begun to pool at the bottom of her mouth sprayed out, staining her ruined dress. But her words only served to make Yoohyeon defensive, for she would not be deceived when she was so close to victory. 

Countless nights dreams of betrayal had plagued her sleep to the point where she could no longer distinguish what was real and what was fabricated, like she was stuck in her own deja vu. It was tormenting her, and she would do anything to break the cycle.

“I’ve stared death in the face over and over and every time I’ve spat in that face and survived” Her voice shook with anger, her stoic facade breaking in seconds, “Do you know why? Because I’m strong enough to do what others won't”

“You might be powerful” Minji had to stop as coughs wracked her failing body, “But that doesn’t make you strong, let me help you Yoohyeon”

The sounds of her sword clattering to the floor from her loose grip broke the prevailing silence that followed, for in this moment the darkness was weakened by Minji’s light, but she was too far gone. They both knew it, even if one of them didn’t want to accept it.

Yoohyeon could only shake her head as she watched Minji struggle to hold on. 

“Don’t let me die alone” The older girl’s voice was pleading and undeniably scared, not yet having come to terms with her own mortality. 

It hurt Yoohyeon’s heart more than Minji’s foretold betrayal ever could have, if only she had realised this sooner.

Despite everything that had just happened, Yoohyeon didn’t have it in her to deny such a request as she sunk to the floor and took Minji into her arms.

The older girl thought it was a hallucination at first, but sure enough she could feel Yoohyeon’s warm tears drip onto her limp arm.

It this moment, Yoohyeon couldn’t think of anything worse than letting go. It was easy to play into the delusion of detachment when she was looking at Minji but not like this, not with her arms full. If only through wet tears, through belated regrets, could she return to how things were. 

But there was nothing left for her now.

“I loved you like I never thought I could love anybody” Her voice was weaker now, if that was even possible.

“But it wasn’t enough”

She chuckled sadly, “No, I suppose it wasn’t”.

Minji believed that if there was even the smallest chance of helping someone then it was a chance worth taking.

And because of that, she died fighting a battle she knew she couldn’t win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this felt more incomplete than the others, I only really have ideas for this one scene. But hopeful I’ll have a slightly longer OT7 chap up tomorrow!
> 
> Also I used some RWBY quotes and Deja vu lyrics cause I couldn’t help myself.


	7. Let destiny take its course - OT7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pure OT7 fluff drabble, enjoy!

Soulmates had been a sensitive issue for Dreamcatcher ever since the very beginning, especially for Yoohyeon. 

It was a cruel twist of fate that she was left to fifth wheel two pairs of soulmates but they tried to make sure she was never left out. Bora and Siyeon being destined to be together was obvious, their energies matched perfectly, and could understand each other as if their thoughts were intertwined. 

Yubin and Minji were much more unexpected, but that doesn’t mean they went together any less. When you think about it, it really did make sense. The two were calm and reliable, but had their own sense of humour and teasing that never failed to liven up the atmosphere. Minji was more emotionally inclined, whereas Yubin was more rational, creating the perfect balance.

In all fairness, it could have been much worse. Despite some of their bonds being inevitable, they all formed strong friendships and for the most part their teamwork was flawless. Excluding a few bumps in the road which was soon smoothed out by their leader, things were going well. Yoohyeon was far too busy to think about what this meant for her, and if she was destined to be surrounded by love but not truly loved.

So when she found out two trainees were joining, it was like it was a fresh start for Yoohyeon. But of course it wasn’t that easy, as the two new members Gahyeon and Handong, introduced themselves as soulmates. She tried not to react, they had only just joined after all and it wasn’t fair to them, but after getting her expectations up Yoohyeon couldn’t help but feel even more alone despite being surrounded by others who she knew loved her.

No wonder the two newcomers had such a dubious first impression of the taller girl. Not only was her shy personality shining through meaning that for the first couple of weeks they interacted only in a group setting, but also how the already sensitive topic got even more sensitive.

At first her members tried to reassure her that there was a sense of hope, most people instinctively knew they met theirs in their teenage years, but time went on and she had no such luck. It wasn’t unheard of for a small perfect of the population to be born without a soulmate, no one knew why, but when the realisation sunk in they tried not to bring it up as much as possible.

Yoohyeon appreciated the gesture, she really did, but being the now seventh wheel to three pairs of soulmates it was bound to come up. Slowly but surely she made her peace with it, but that didn’t mean there weren't moments of hurt or jealousy. 

Everyone knew she wasn’t the best with her words or expressing herself verbally, sometimes when she got all caught up and tongue tied she wished for nothing more than for someone to just instinctively know what she was trying to say. 

This was only exaggerated when Gahyeon seemed to understand Handong perfectly even with the language barrier at the beginning, but Yoohyeon seemed to be misunderstood in her own language.

Initially she thought that this would isolate her from her members, but as time went on and the gears fell into place, never before had she been so happy to be proven wrong.

At first the natural solution to get her mind of things seemed simple, throw yourself into working. Afterall, it was hard to fixate on how the universe did you a dirty when your throat hurts from the endless singing or your brain feels like it's melting from learning too many foreign words.

It seemed to work at first, but Yoohyeon misunderstood her members giving her space as them not noticing. For one of them felt something was wrong instantly, but took a moment to act on it as she would soon find out. 

Minji didn’t know how to explain it, or what came over her, as she wordlessly left the dorm and headed towards the company. It was as if out of nowhere her brain became fixated on one goal, and wouldn’t rest until she had achieved it. 

This odd feeling of tenseness was relieved as soon as she opened the vocal room door and saw Yoohyeon slumped over her notes, fast asleep. Her neck was bent at an awkward angle, Minji knew it was going to be sore the next morning if she didn’t move her.

The question now was should she wake Yoohyeon up and drag her back to the dorm, or should she try and move her to the sofa outside. But the younger girl looked so tired she didn’t want to wake her up to take her all the way back home, so option two it is.

While Yoohyeon was taller than Minji, she still had no problem picking her up and taking her to the sofa outside. It was going smoothly until when Minji went to put Yoohyeon on the sofa she fell, which meant that her body was trapped between the sofa and the sleeping girl.

It wasn’t how she expected to spend her evening, but she quickly accepted her fate as she dozed off even with Yoohyeon resting on top of her. The next morning when the two woke, one very confused, the younger girl had asked how Minji had known where to find her so precisely. But she had merely shrugged and said instincts.

Apparently Bora’s instincts were equally as fine tuned as she would soon find out. Yoohyeon had an interesting relationship with skinship, sometimes she loved it, other times it made her skin crawl. Growing up it had annoyed her family to no end, the constant back and forth, so she had learned to put up with it. She didn’t expect her members to get it and so made no mention of it, much less predict it.

But Bora did, even if she didn’t say much about it. Even making subtle changes in the choreography depending on Yoohyeon’s mood. Like at the beginning of Odd eye, it was a good day their hands would be intertwined at the beginning like normal, but if Bora knew the taller girl needed her space, she would simply hold her wrist slightly.

When Yoohyeon had asked about it, she got a similar lackluster response of just Bora reading vibes or whatever that was supposed to mean. The same goes for when the two were relaxing in their shared room together, Bora always seemed to know when to bother her and when to back off. 

For some, it showed through working. Siyeon was a prime example of that. Ever since trainees the two had instinctively gone together, always achieving the perfect harmonies with minimal practice because they understood each other so well.

But it was more than that, as they understood each other on an emotional level as well. Siyeon was always the first to jump in and reassure her when something had gone wrong like missing a note, or offering a shoulder to hide behind when reality got too much.

Whereas Handong’s speciality was always knowing what hobby Yoohyeon wanted to pursue in the moment. The younger girl was well known for wanting to study german one week and something completely different the next, but her members always supported her. 

Handong always took time out of her day to teach her a phrase that Yoohyeon hadn’t even mentioned that she didn’t understand, or offer to be her model for a photoshoot she knew the taller girl had been inspired by.

Yubin was more obvious, the two even joked that in another life they would have been soulmates. Even going as far to say that Yubin was born three months after Yoohyeon because the universe didn’t want her to be lonely. 

Sometimes she had difficulties with her words or sorting her emotions, when this happened she didn’t tend to want to be with other people fearing their expectation, but with Yubin it was different. 

They could sit together in the younger girls room for hours in silence as Yoohyeon sifted through her own thoughts, and not once would she feel like a burden, knowing that when she was done Yubin would be there to listen.

When the now loveable youngest burst into their life, Yoohyeon wasn’t sure how to take it. It was like having another Bora around with the mischievousness of Siyeon but sure enough she wormed her way into Yoohyeon’s heart easily, forming the Hyeon sisters.

Despite their height difference, Gahyeon often found herself back hugging the taller girl. The other members assumed it was for when the youngest needed comfort when in reality it was the other way around. It was like a safe space that Yoohyeon didn’t realise she was missing in her life. Always able to effortlessly calm her down, but that’s what their relationship was, effortless.

Yoohyeon thought she was unlucky enough to have no soulmate, turns out she was destined to have six.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In most fics soulmates are always like this big thing, like having a mark or reading each other’s thoughts but I kinda like the idea of the little things. Like knowing someone like the back of your hand even platonically, makes you think that maybe it isn’t so far fetched. 
> 
> Regardless I hope this was alrighty :)


	8. To love is to trust -OT7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw that some people prefer double spacing on fics so I thought I’d give it a go, if you hate it, love it, lemme know!
> 
> also I’ll be the first to admit this is lowkey cheesy whooops but when isn’t it

There was something off with the members, but Yoohyeon couldn’t quite put a finger on it. It was like they were dancing around a sensitive subject whenever she was in the room, giving each other meaningful looks which Yoohyeon couldn’t decipher for the first time since debut. 

At first she just thought it was her overthinking things, there was no way that the members were keeping something from her, right? After all they were a team, a family, what could they possibly have to hide. But it was hard to keep that in mind when their hushed whispers were silenced whenever she entered a room only to be replaced with an awkward energy that she couldn’t bear.

Yoohyeon had tried everything, from ignoring it which didn’t work, to asking individual members what was up. But they all gave her a guilty look and a very non convincing, “I have no idea what you’re on about.”. It had been like this for over a week now and it was beginning to put her on edge, her personality wasn’t built for this kind of tension, always the one to try and smooth things over or play the passive card. 

The more time that passed, the more her insecurities seemed to bubble up. To some extent it felt like she was at school again trying to figure out if everyone hated her or if she was just sleep deprived, unfortunately it tended to be a mix of the two. Being a trainee and a student had brought some unwanted attention and she couldn’t deny that it had affected her, as much as she tried to pretend that it hadn’t.

One late tuesday night after practice it all got too much and Bora had to hold her while she sobbed, unable to get any words out. It wasn’t just her members of course that had pushed her to this state, but it certainly hadn’t helped. The older girl couldn’t even bring herself to ask what was wrong, for she knew exactly, instead choosing to rock her slowly and soothe her in a quiet voice as much as she could. 

Until eventually they both fell asleep in the bottom bunk, tears staining both of their cheeks.

The next morning, Yoohyeon woke up alone in Bora’s bed. She could feel that her eyes were still puffy from the night before and a headache threatened to creep up on her. Taking a deep breath, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and left to head towards the kitchen. But once she opened the bedroom door, she saw her members sat on the sofa speaking in hushed voices.

Frankly, Yoohyeon was not in the mood for it and planned to walk straight past them and head into the kitchen. But Bora’s voice calling out stopped her in her tracks.

“Yooh, take a seat, we need to talk”

Immediately Yoohyeon felt her heart rate skyrocket, only on rare occasions did she hear Bora sound so serious outside of the practice room. It felt weird and foriegn, not at all sitting with her right. Despite her hesitation, she took a tentative seat on the edge of the sofa looking up at her members with her wide puppy like eyes. Under any other circumstances, Siyeon and Bora would have swooned over how innocent it made her look but today wasn’t the day for it.

“The thing is” It was Siyeon this time who started talking, and Yoohyeon felt her breath hitch in her throat as she realised that she was about to find out what the past week had all been about momentarily, “Bora and I are dating”

….What? That wasn’t what Yoohyeon had been expecting at all. Why all the secrecy, why was she the last to know, did they think she would be against it?

“That’s great news” Yoohyeon began slowly as her brain began to kick back in after processing the information, “But what was all the hush hush about? You know I support you both no matter what”

Bora immediately shook her head, “No it wasn't anything like that, it’s just…”. For the first time the older girl genuinely appeared lost for words, leaving Minji to pick up the pieces.

“There were some concerns that you knowing could be a liability of sorts” Minji couldn’t help but cringe at the word liability, there was no good way to have this conversation. The leader couldn’t help but think back to what they could have all done differently to avoid this situation, but it was too late now. They’d just have to deal with it.

Yoohyeon repeated the words over and over in her head until finally it clicked.

Oh.

“You didn’t trust me” Yoohyeon’s blunt voice expressing the realisation was betrayed by the tears that immediately sprung to her eyes. All of this secrecy, all of this doubt, all because she couldn’t control her own mouth in front of a damn camera. Yoohyeon didn’t know if she was more angry at her members or at herself.

As Yoohyeon felt the guilt and anger rise in her chest, she let her instincts take over. She needed to leave before she said something that she would regret. There was too much going on in her head, it was too loud, for her to think straight. Without a second glance back, she got to her feet and grabbed the nearest jacket on the coat rack and left. Ignoring the voices calling after her.

“Should I follow?” Dami asked, speaking up for the first time. Out of all them she had been the most impartial to the whole situation, seeing both sides of the argument. The youngest was adamant that they should tell Yoohyeon since the beginning and with the current tense atmosphere all of the members couldn’t help but wish that they had listened. Bora had been leaning towards telling her roommate too, but the final straw was seeing how distraught Yoohyeon had been,

“Give her space, she’ll come back when she is ready”

They all hoped that Bora was right.

Yoohyeon didn’t know how she had got home, couldn’t remember the journey at all, but she was glad she had when she was greeted with her mother’s warm smile welcoming her in. When her family had asked what brought her back so unexpectedly, she merely shrugged and said that she had missed them. Not wanting to be a burden to even more people.

In the safety of her own room and Pie nestled comfortably on her lap, it gave her the opportunity to actually think about how she was feeling. It hurt more than she could have ever imagined that her members didn’t trust her, but she couldn’t bring herself to blame them. In a way, that almost hurt more.

So desperately did she want someone or something else to blame other than herself, anything to take even the slightest bit of crushing guilt off her shoulders. But Yoohyeon had always been overly self critical, not seeing that it wasn’t only her in the wrong, and today was no exception. 

Like so many times that past week, Yoohyeon felt empty tears run down her cheeks. Far too numb for the usual shaking of shoulders or sniffling that usually accompanied her crying. At the feeling of water dripping down, Pie looked up at her in interest. Immediately the fluffy dog’s sparkling eyes brought a sense of peace to Yoohyeon.

“Oh Pie, what am I going to do?”

Pie obviously didn’t respond, but she did cock her head sideways slightly. To anyone else that wouldn’t have meant anything but to the self proclaimed dog whisperer, Yoohyeon understood the message loud and clear.

“I know, I know I can’t stay here forever. But I can stay here for lunch”

And dinner apparently, for by the time she was making her way back to the dorm it was already dark. Yoohyeon felt marginally better, it had been healing spending some time with her family and eating some home cooked meals but there was only one way to solve the pain she felt in her chest.

So with shaking hands, Yoohyeon slowly pushed open the dorm door and was immediately greeted by Gahyeon who visibly let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the taller girl. Before she could even say anything, the youngest was giving her a quick side hug with a mumbled “Glad you’re back” and then disappeared into her room. 

When she made it further into the dorm, she saw Yubin watching the TV quietly. The younger girl looked up at the sound of footsteps and once their gaze met offered her a small smile. Yubin gestured with her head towards her own room with a questioning look and Yoohyeon immediately nodded, more than willing to buy time in the others room before she faced the rest of the members.

Once Yoohyeon had shut the door behind her and sat on the bed next to Yubin she let out a heavy breath. She didn’t know where the younger girl stood on the whole situation, to be honest if she wasn’t sure if she could take it if Yubin didn’t trust her either. That would be like the nail in the coffin. As all these thoughts were going through her head, Yubin silently watched on taking in her friends slumped form. It hurt seeing her so defeated, so tired, especially when she knew that they had been a part of the cause.

“Are you angry?” Yubin asked eventually.

“Not at you guys, I wanted to though. I wanted to be angry at you all for keeping it from me but I couldn’t do it. At this point I'm more angry at myself” With the last sentence her shoulders seemed to slump down even further.

“It’s not completely your fault, you know that right?”

Yoohyeon just shook her head, even though that was what she wanted to hear since the beginning, it didn’t mean she was ready to hear it. Much less accept it.

“I think I feel more sorry than anything” Yoohyeon responded with instead, dodging Yubin’s question.

“Perhaps that’s a conversation you should be having with Bora and Siyeon?”

She couldn’t help but sigh, it seemed like her time of stalling was up. 

“You’re right, where are they anyway?”

“In your room I think”

Yoohyeon stood up and went to leave, but right before she did she turned back to face her friend.

“Thanks Yubin”

Getting an encouraging smile in return, that was all she needed to summon the confidence to head towards her own shared room with Bora. Usually she would walk straight in, but this time she brought her hand up and knocked on it gently. Shortly after a muffled “Come in” could be heard.

Pushing the door open, Yoohyeon was greeted by the sight of Bora lying on Siyeon’s lap as the younger girl thread her hand through Bora’s hair lightly. The dancer had obviously been crying, but her eyes lit up at the sight of Yoohyeon. Only narrowly missing hitting her head on the bed frame as she jumped to her feet and crashed her small body into the taller girl.

It was an aggressive hug, but it was more than welcomed as Yoohyeon wrapped her hands around Bora. Talking could wait, this took precedence. Seeing Siyeon’s adoring gaze at the sight, the youngest opened her arms up to welcome the vocalist into the hug to which she accepted without hesitation. It was no secret how much the older two adored Yoohyeon, and so seeing her so hurt earlier absolutely broke them.

After a while, they broke apart and settled on the floor awaiting the dreaded conversation. Despite the previous warmth just moments earlier, Yoohyeon still found herself fiddling with her hands in nervousness until finally she found the courage to break the silence.

“I’m sorry that I was a burden, especially without knowing” Siyeon went to object, but stopped at the look Yoohyeon gave her pleading for them both to let her finish, “This should have been an exciting time, your love should be celebrated but you were too busy worrying about me. I truly am sorry”

Seeing that she was done, Siyeon took her opportunity to speak.

“We were talking about it earlier, and we should have trusted you more” Bora and Siyeon shared a meaningful look, again having a conversation that Yoohyeon couldn’t understand but this time the feeling didn’t upset her. “I should have trusted you more, and I’m sorry that I didn’t. Everything is just so new and so much could go wrong, and so I let fear get the better of me”

Yubin’s words from earlier seemed to finally sink in that little bit more, but not completely. The three continued to speak late into the night, clearing up misunderstandings and working through their issues. But the emotional turmoil that had gone on within Yoohyeon throughout the day had drained her, soon falling asleep on the floor leaving Siyeon to carry her to Bora’s bed once more. Not even attempting to take her up the ladder to the youngest’s own bed.

The next morning, Yoohyeon woke up feeling much lighter than the day prior. As quietly as she could so she didn’t wake the still sleeping Bora, she left her room and headed towards the kitchen. Minji was already in there despite how early it was, humming to herself as she cut some fruit.

“Morning” The eldest had offered once she noticed Yoohyeon had joined her. It was slightly awkward, the two hadn’t had much of a chance to talk since yesterday but Minji was keen on putting an end to that. Moving to sit at the kitchen table with the bowl of fruit in hand, she gestured for Yoohyeon to sit down with her.

Once they were both sat down, Minji began.

“I won’t lie to you Yoohyeon, I was for keeping their relationship a secret from you and I’m sorry for that, we didn’t give you enough credit”

“It’s my own fault though” Yoohyeon said in a quiet voice, her eyes downcast. But the feeling of Minji’s hands on her own made her look up. To Yoohyeon, Minji could do no wrong. For years she had been the perfect leader and it would take more than that for the younger girl to realise that everyone messes up at some point. Even Minji, but where the older girl strived was in her ability to admit her mistakes.

“No, no it’s not. Spoiling the occasional thing for a comeback isn’t the same as revealing an entire relationship.” Minji took a moment to think about her words but shortly continued, “What I’m most sorry for though is not considering your feelings, I can’t imagine what was going through your head in that week but I can promise it won’t happen again”

The sheer sincerity in Minji’s voice was enough to make the dam break, that validation brought more peace of mind than she thought possible. Not to mention how warm her heart felt when she was wrapped into yet another hug by the older girl. 

It wasn’t perfect, Yoohyeon still doubted herself and became quieter on things like Vlive but Handong always knew how to lighten the mood. Often jokingly spoiling something in Yoohyeon’s place with a sly grin on her face the entire time. Not the mention how they still had to navigate all of this unknown territory.

But one thing was for sure, they would do it as a team, one step at a time. For there was no gift more precious than trust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might be the last update for a couple of days because I have an assignment due, but I wanted to drop something so I hope this was alright! 
> 
> It felt a bit less coherent than most, classic feeling that something was missing but too late now


End file.
